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A10 WORLD NEWS
Monday 23 SepteMber 2019
Iran asks West to leave Persian Gulf as tensions heightened
By NASSER KARIMI tionary Guard beside him. tioned in the region. Since
Associated Press The cleric later watched 1980, it has viewed the
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's as marching soldiers carry- region as crucial to its na-
president called Sunday on ing submachine guns and tional security, given its en-
Western powers to leave portable missile launchers ergy exports. A fifth of all oil
the security of the Persian drove past as part of "Holy traded passes through the
Gulf to regional nations led Defense Week," which Strait of Hormuz, the narrow
by Tehran, criticizing a new marks the start of the Iran- mouth of the Persian Gulf.
U.S.-led coalition patrolling Iraq war in 1980. The U.S. plans to send addi-
the region's waterways as Rouhani said Iran was will- tional troops to the region
nationwide parades show- ing to "extend the hand over the tensions.
cased the Islamic Repub- of friendship and brother- The parades and maneu-
lic's military arsenal. hood" to Persian Gulf na- vers Sunday appeared
Hassan Rouhani separately tions and was "even ready aimed at projecting Iranian
promised to unveil a re- to forgive their past mis- strength with naval vessels,
gional peace plan at this In this photo released by the official website of the office of the takes." submarines and armed
week's upcoming high- Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani speaks at a mili- "Those who want to link the speedboats swarmed
tary parade in front of the shrine of the late revolutionary found-
level meetings at the Unit- er Ayatollah Khomeini in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2019. region's incidents to the Is- across the Persian Gulf and
ed Nations, which comes Associated Press lamic Republic of Iran are troops showed off land-to-
lying like their past lies that sea missiles capable of tar-
amid heightened Mideast have been revealed," the geting the U.S. Navy. Com-
tensions following a series president said. "If they are mandos fast-roped down
of attacks, including a mis- truthful and really seek se- onto the deck of a ship,
sile-and-drone assault on curity in the region, they resembling Iran's July sei-
Saudi Arabia's oil industry. must not send weapons, zure of a British-flagged oil
The U.S. alleges Iran carried fighter jets, bombs and tanker.
out the Sept. 14 attack on dangerous arms to the re- Iranian ship seizures, as well
the world's largest oil pro- gion." as oil tanker explosions that
cessor in the kingdom and Rouhani added that the the U.S. blames on Iran, saw
an oil field, which caused U.S. and Western nations America create a new co-
oil prices to spike by the should "distance" them- alition to protect Mideast
biggest percentage since selves from the region. waters. So far, Australia,
the 1991 Gulf War. While "Your presence has always Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the
Yemen's Iranian-allied been a calamity for this United Kingdom and the
Houthi rebels claimed the region and the farther you United Arab Emirates have
assault, Saudi Arabia says it go from our region and our agreed to join it.
was "unquestionably spon- nations, the more secu- Iranian parliament speak-
sored by Iran." rity would come for our re- er Ali Larijani called the
For its part, Iran denies be- gion," he said. U.S-led coalition a "a new
ing responsible and has He said Iran's plan would means for plundering the
warned any retaliatory at- focus on providing security region," according to Iran's
tack targeting it will result in the Persian Gulf, the Strait semi-official Tasnim news
in an "all-out war." That's as of Hormuz and the Gulf of agency.
it has begun enriching ura- Oman "with help from re- "We regard the emer-
nium beyond the terms of gional countries." Iran has gence of such coalitions as
its 2015 nuclear deal with boosted its naval coop- the start of a new game to
world powers, which the eration with China, India, make the region insecure,"
U.S. unilaterally withdrew Oman, Pakistan, and Russia Larijani said, according
from over a year earlier. in recent years. to Tasnim. Iran separately
Rouhani spoke from a riser The U.S. maintains defense displayed its Khordad-3
at the parade in Tehran, agreements across the Per- surface-to-air missile that
with uniformed officers sian Gulf with allied Arab downed a U.S. military sur-
from the country's military nations and has tens of veillance drone in the Strait
and its paramilitary Revolu- thousands of troops sta- of Hormuz in June.q
